High interest in the Tour Down Under’s new summit

ADELAIDE’S iconic climb up Norton Summit has proven extra popular this week, with WorldTour teams inspecting the latest addition to the Tour Down Under route.

CYCLING - TOUR DOWN UNDER

ADELAIDE’S iconic climb up Norton Summit has proven extra popular this week, with WorldTour teams inspecting the latest addition to the Tour Down Under route.

Tinkoff-Saxo riders on Wednesday took to the 5.6km climb on the city’s eastern fringe ahead of the race winding its way up there during Stage 4 of the TDU later this month.

For the first time in TDU history, riders will pass over Norton Summit during a stage of the race which happens to coincide with the Bupa Challenge Tour on Friday, January 22.

A popular climb for cyclists ranging from weekend warriors to defending TDU champion Rohan Dennis and Australia’s women’s team pursuit world champions, the climb from the bottom of Magill Rd forms part of the Stage 4 route to Victor Harbor.

Although the climb will favour those looking to sneak into a breakaway on the day, it arrives early in the stage and is not expected to influence the winner of the day or general classification.

Orica-GreenEDGE rider and Adelaide boy Damien Howson currently has the Strava record for Norton Summit, with a sizzling 11mins 29secs set in 2012.

This year TDU organisers are running an individual time trial up Norton Summit, where recreational cyclists can unleash their inner competitive beast in a race against the clock on Monday, January 18.

“This is the first time Norton Summit has been included in the race route for the pros so we decided to create an opportunity for everyone to compete and have an actual time trial experience,” TDU race director Mike Turtur said.

International cyclists arriving in Adelaide this week have been given somewhat of a reprieve with temperatures in the mid to low 30s a welcome change to previous years when the mercury has soared into the 40s.

[e-mail]

Originally published as High interest in the Tour Down Under’s new summit